Tension indicator



Nov. 30, 1954 E, G, LODGE i 2,695,519

TENSION INDICATOR Filed Jan. 18, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 1 Y B f5 M147 744V 53A ,427er @y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENToR. idf/md? afge fwmg/ E. G. LODGE TENSION INDICATOR Nov. 30, 1954 Filed Jan. 1s, 1951 TENSION INDICATOR Edmund G. Lodge, Rosemont, Pa. Application January 18, 1951, Serial No. 206,613

z claims.` (ci. 1ra- 144) My invention relates: toV the` winding-of thread or yarn upon spools or beams from al series of section beams or spools, and particularly relates to a device for measuring and regulating the tension of yarn ends as they are drawn from section beams or spools through a slasher onto a loom beam, or from a loom warp beam a weaving,Y knitting or braiding operation.

For instance, in the cotton warping system, if Aa loom beam-of 6.000 ends is required, and there are only 600 ends on a warping creel, l: section beams of 600Y ends each can bel wound up. These l0V section beams can be mounted on a rack and simultaneously pulled over a Slasher, condensed and wound onto one loom beam of 6000 ends. r

Heretofore, yarn endsA have been drawn from section beams or spools, under tension, without any facilities for measuring and regulating this tension during the operavNot only must the yarn tension from each section beam or spool be equal, but the total tension must be constant throughout the length of the loom beam. A variable tension between the section beams or spools causes tight and looselends on the loom beam. The tight endsshow up. as streaks in the goods after dyeing. A variable aver- ,age tension of all the ends from the section beams produces goods of uneven shrinkage. All tension variables in a loom-during Unid States Patent Q adversely atect the elilciency of the weaving, knitting or s braiding operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide electrical apparatus to amplify and accurately indicate the deviation in tension and which at the' time will comprise a `mini- Another object of my invention is to provide electrical small parts conveniently located in a small housing.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an im- 4mum of electrical elements of simple and standard parts.

proved device of the character described, that is easily and i economically produced. which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efcient in operation.

With the above and-related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination 'ofparts, as will be more fully understood from the f I 'ollowing description, when 'read in conjunction with the accompanying Vdrawings in which:

Fig. I is avsc'h'ematic'view of tension' indicatingA appa- 'ratos 'wherein' yarn is passing V`over a plurality of rollers from 'a Slasher; included 'i's'a transformer and avolt meter or any meter which indicates high tension or low tension electrically.

Fig 2.is a schematic view showing mechanism used to control the increase o r decrease of tension on a Slasher.

Pig. 3 is a side view of the tension applying means connected toone side of a Slasher beam.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of `the mechanism'` for applying tension to one end, of theA Slasher beam.

Fig. 5 is a combination of va tension indicator and tension control obtained by combining the elements of Figs. 1 and 2, with the control switch open.

It is to be remembered that there may be a thousand ends which are drawn from a single drum of a slasher and the ends whose tension iS to be measured may be only a few in number because it is presumed that the tension (and it has been found so to be) across the entire drum is uniform.

The specific reason for inaccurate overall control of tension' from the beams is that the degree of tension of 2,6 95,5 l 9 Patented Nov. 30,1954

the beam could notbe readily increased or decreased, and there is accurate, determination of the variation of tension.

Referring now to the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts,l l show a plurality of arms or rollers 10, 12, 14 about which ends 16 the tension of which is to ybe determined, passes. The ends 16 are taken from a reel 17 which is mounted upon and held to, rotate with a shaft 45. The arms orrollers 10 and 14 are fixed in position while the oatiug arm 12 is pivoted at 18 by the connecting arm Z0, which joins the arni 12 to theI pivot. Integrally formed .with the arm 20 1s a cam 22. The cam 22 imparts a. controlled rocking motion tov the armature Z4 on the l5.` type transformer, generally designated as B. Thev cam surface 22 contacts a roller 26 which is at, one end of the ferrous metal armature 24` positioned above the transformer B. The armature is pivoted. at 28` Thel transformer B. has. three core legs 30, 32 and 34 which are4 surrounded by coils 30A, 32A and 34A (to which4 a constant voltage `is applied). The coil 32A is the primary of the transformer and the coils 30A and 34A are the secondary. Only one coil 30A need be. considered.: It should` be apparent that the arm 20 1s pivotecl at 18 so that movement of the. arm 12 carries with itmovement Qf.` the arm 20 as, well as the cam surface 2,2 which causes the roller 26 of the armature 2,4 to rock. t t

A slight rotation of the iloating arm 12 of the fixture will produce a gpat one end or the other end of the E` type. transformen rlhis rocking armature may be made of a low magnetic lfrtentivity iron formanufacturing convenience, and attention is` called to 'the fact that because of a low power requirement hysteresis and eddy current losses need not be considered.. Laminated stock has. been used for the E-shaped portions of the transformer., It is preferably made o f B graded silicon steel .015 inch stock. A winding ofcopper wire properly insulated is pressed upon the` center leg 32 and .is designated 32A. This is called the primary winding.

A secondary winding 30A is placed upon the leg 30 of the E type, core. The winding ratio is about -two to one, or approximately one-half the number of turns upon the secondary as on the primary. In other words, the coil 32A is a primary and' the coil 30A is the secondary., It is apparent that if a controlled A. C. voltage is impressed upon the coil of the primary 32A the induced voltage in the secondary 30A under no load conditions` when the iron gap is closed at one end will 4he approximately onehalf of the impressed primary voltage. Therefore, upon rocking the armature24 upwardly (Fig. 1) it is evident `that the flux path then is concentrated through the opposite end of the transformer and the induced voltage in the secondary will be of a value approaching zero.

The reason for the transformer being made: in the form of an EV is now apparent'because it will be readily noted that the two lines of magnetic force through the center and through eachV leg will tend to produce aA mechanical balance thus having .the least possible mechanical eflcct on the oating'arm 12 so that the movement of the float- It will now be seenvthat the movement of the floatingarm 12 on the fixture will be indicated on the electrical instrument needle deflection, thus mechanical movement of the floating arm 12 is reliably translated into a readable needle position change upon `an electrical instrument,

The tension on the ends utilizes the mechanical moyement of the floating arm 12 as it istmovedby thet'cnsion of the ends, hence, the air gap of the magnetic circuit in transformer B causes variations in an induced current which variations can be accurately indicated by the suitable meter 36.

The primary iS connected to a voltage regulating transformer 38 of alternating current which may be controlled by a rheostat 40 in order to increase or reduce the voltage and control it to a certain point and each Secondary may be then varied by the flux passing through the armature 24. The cam 22 presses the arm 24 downwardly then the ux through the arm 24 is increased or decreased.

Summarizing, it can be Vscen that the one coil on the left can be used to indicate whether or not there is too great a tension and the right one can be used to indicate where there is too little tension. If there is a correct amount of tension then there will be an equal balance on the meter by virtue of the calibration.

Hydraulic brake An oil pump of the positive displacement type is preferred. The unit includes a spur gear 42 which is driven by any source of power preferably being attached to one end of a slasher driven shaft 45. Meshing with the driving gear 42 is a second spur gear 46 of the same physical dimensions. Enclosing the two gears is a suitable tighttting case 48 with a fluid inlet 50 and outlet tube 52 at a point each side of where the gears mesh. Rotation of the driven gear 42 moves the idler gear 46 in the opposite direction. The gear teeth will then produce a series of spaces in which fluid is trapped and'conveyed around the periphery and is forced under pressure out the outlet tube and by virtue of this it is 'drawn through the inlet opening.

Connecting the outlet 52 and inlet 50 openings with a suitable piece of tubing will mean that uid flow will be continuous between the outlet 52 and the inlet 50 through the tube which may be in the form of a loop.

It is then apparent that rotation of the gears 42, 46 controls the flow of fluid. Any constriction of the fluid flow is the same as a mechanical increase in rotating effort. This is the same as applying a braking action. If a theoretically perfect tit of thecase is around the gears and the Huid conducting tube, a complete lock or resistanche to rotation of the driven gear shaft is effected.

A series wound reversible motor, generally designated as 44, has a shaft 44A which carries a worm 44A1 that drives the worm wheel 44B that is mounted on a shaft 44C. The other end of the shaft carriesv a worm 44D which drives a worm-wheel 44E that is suitably connected to the control valve 64.

An expandable bellows 56 is connected at one end to the inlet tube 50, and the other bellows 58 is connected at one end to the outlet tube 52.- The bellows are expandable and permit fluid to accumulate therein. The other end of the bellows 56 abuts ,a spring 56A which engages an adjusting nut 56B mounted upon a xed threaded stud 56C. In other words. each bellows may be adjusted as to tension by the adjusting nut, its bolt, and the spring 56A.

A simple description of the operation of this unit is as follows:

Upon rotation of the driving shaft 60 and the gears 42, 46 the bellows in the pressure leg of the tube will expand and the bellows in the opposite leg will contract in an effort to keep' uid pressure equalized. Upon release of the shaft after rotation effect, assuming that valve in uid path is closed, the expanded bellows will contract and force luid in the opposite direction and slightly rotate the shaft due again to the effort to maintain fluid pressure balance. The contracted bellows will assume a normal position.

Combination tension indicator and hydraulic brake In order to obtain automatic tension control throughthe use of the combination of these two units illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is involves the introduction of a sensitive relay 62 of the double pole, double throw ltype in the circuit of the meter indicator. The coil of this sensitive relay operates between current limits of two milliamperes. The poles of this sensitive relay will be connected so as to reverse the connections to the brushes of the universal type motor 44 having brushes. This universal type motor will be geared to control the fluid through the valve 64, As for example, when the tension indicator shows high tension the relay contact will close the contact to the universal motor 44 and will turn the valve 64 to increase uidV flow, thus dropping the tension; the opposite action of the indicator toward low will decrease the iluid opening and automatically increase tension to compensate. This will give smooth and automatic control of tensions without the need of hand adjustment of the present conventional snubbing ropes on the beams and will also automatically adjust tension as the yarn is pulled olf the beams, thus decreasing the diameter of the yarn-filled beams.

The electrical circuit of Fig. 1 has the wires 30B joined to the contacts 30C and 30D by virtue of a switch. This switch is opened when the control circuit of Fig. 2 is to be joined to the indicator circuit of Fig. 1 and the wires 62A, and 62B are joined to the contacts 30C and 30D. The wires 63A and 63B are joined to the motor power source. Y

The shaft 60 has firmly attached thereto a clamp 43 which is detachably connected to the shaft 45. A pair of jaws 43B and 43C are held by a bolt 43A so `t at loosening the nut 43A opensV the jaws and tightening he nut 43A clamps the jaws 43B and 43C to the shaft 45. The housing C1, therefore, can be easily shifted from one slasher to another slasher. Other means of clamping the shafts 46 and 60 together may be used.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being fillustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tension indicator for flexible strands comprising a pair of` fixed rollers over which said strands are ,adapted to pass, a oating arm adapted to lie upon said strands and lying between said rollers, a transformer having a movable armature and a primary and a secondary coil, means to transmit movement of said floating arm to move said armature, an electrical circuit connected to said transformer secondary coil and an electric meter connected in said circuit and thereby responsive to the positioning of said movable armature to indicateA the tensionof said strands.

2. A device for indicating the tension in flexible material extending between two adjacent fixed arms comprising a floating arm disposed to bear againstV the material between said fixed arms, a pivoted armature supporting a roller, said roller engaging said floating arm whereby movement of said arm moves said roller and said armature, means controlled by said armature for producing a voltage which varies in response to the movement of said armature, and an electric meter connected to said voltage producing means to measure said voltage and thereby indicate said tension.

References Cited in thetle of this patentV UNITED STATES PATENTS 

